Ensemble Guided by the Rhythm of Tibetan History

When the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts’ Song and Dance Ensemble performs, the focus is on centuries-old songs and dances from the region’s various districts.

That makes its programs powerfully subversive.

Since the flight into exile of 100,000 Tibetans in 1959, the Dharamsala, India-based institute has helped the refugees combat Chinese Communist repression and the prospect of losing their culture completely. Revolutions can be won one convert at a time--and far from the home front.

“The most interesting reactions come from Chinese students we come across here,” said Jamyang Dorjee, director of the 48-member ensemble, whose U.S. tour stops Friday and Saturday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

“They say that when they were growing up they were taught that Tibet is part of China,” Dorjee, 43, said in a phone interview last week following shows in Michigan. “When they came to the United States and studied world history, they realized it was not true. When they see our performance, they are so moved by it, so angry. ‘Why did our government try to do this?’ they wonder.

“We have nothing against the Chinese people. They too fight against their government. The [Chinese rulers] do not want democracy and peace in their country. Chinese people, Tibetan people, we are together.”

The fact is, a great deal of political activity took place before the tour began. Columbia Artists Management of New York had originally booked a group called China’s National Song and Dance Ensemble of Tibet into Cerritos and other venues, but in the wake of intense criticism over presenting Beijing’s view of Tibetan culture, a genuine Tibetan replacement was found.

The concerts are now presented in association with Tibet House, a New York-based cultural organization under the auspices of the Dalai Lama; its founders include actor Richard Gere and composer Philip Glass, who also serves as its secretary. The tour, which includes stops in more than 30 cities, began in New York City on Oct. 1 and ends in San Francisco on Nov. 22.

The program begins with an invocation and ends with the Tibetan national anthem. In the Black Hat Dance, good sorcerers destroy the powers of evil through Tantric arts. Among more than half a dozen colorful folk dances on the program is the Dance of the Yaks. Five Gyutoe monks present monastic chanting using the characteristic long horns.

The evening also includes a taste of Tibetan opera.

“Before 1959, we had five different opera companies in Tibet,” Dorjee said. “Tibetan opera started in 1345. The operas tell stories of Buddhas and bodhisattvas . . . of good winning and evil losing.

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“Tibetan opera normally continues for three days, from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon--that’s one opera. People come from all over, they bring a picnic lunch, they meet their relatives. In our settlement in India we show a one-day Tibetan opera, also starting at 9 and ending at 4. Here, we present two pieces, each five or six minutes, just to give an idea how Tibetan opera looks and sounds.”

Of special interest should be a modern solo song performed in homage to Panchen Rinpoche, who is described in the ode as “the youngest prisoner in the world”; the words refer to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the boy who the Dalai Lama’s followers believe is the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama (second only to the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy). The Chinese government selected a different boy as the reincarnation and took Nyima into custody.

“He was arrested last year at 6 years old,” Dorjee said. “They say he is under their safeguard. They say they are afraid for his life.” Dorjee laughed at the irony.

“Today we have two Panchen Lamas: one accepted by Tibetans, the other selected by the prime minister of China. You know that the Communists have very strict rules--they don’t believe in reincarnation. Now they are selecting somebody’s incarnation!”

A film about modern-day Buddhist determination of incarnations--”Little Buddha,” starring Keanu Reeves--was released two years ago. In 1997, Martin Scorsese will feature the Tibetan Ensemble in his film about the Dalai Lama, “Kundun”; the group reenacts the opera festival during which Chinese troupes invaded Tibet.

The project, for Walt Disney Studios, is indicative of the sympathy for the Tibetan plight that Dorjee said he has encountered here:

“Often when we sing the Tibetan national anthem, I see tears in the eyes of [American members of Tibetan support groups]. It is very moving. In 36 years of exile, as Tibet has been passing through this most difficult time in its history, the people of this great country have always supported us.”

The interview took place the morning after this country’s presidential elections, a process Dorjee found refreshing.

“It’s so systematic compared to India’s elections,” he said. “There you never know what is going to happen.”

* What: The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts’ Song and Dance Ensemble.

* When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

* Where: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos.

* Whereabouts: Exit the Artesia (91) Freeway at Shoemaker Avenue; follow signs to the center.

* Wherewithal: $16-$45.

* Where to call: (310) 916-8500.